When a vapor deposition method is used to manufacture an organic electroluminescence (EL) element, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a dopant material, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer are formed on a substrate on which an electrode (a cathode) has been formed, and an electrode (an anode) is finally formed. In the course of forming the dopant material after the hole transport layer is formed, the dopant material is formed according to the colors of pixels.
At this time, in forming the dopant material, a method of forming the dopant material by vapor deposition using a fine metal mask (FMM) is generally often used. The dopant material can be formed at a desired position by the masking.
An example of the above-mentioned related art is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-083704.
When the masking is performed, it is preferable that the FMM be formed to be as thin as possible for the purpose of a decrease in size of the organic EL element and prevention of a shadow effect. However, when a mask material is decreased in thickness, the FMM is likely to be deformed. Because of the deformation, the shape of the dopant material deposited may be distorted and a light emitting layer may not be formed at a desired position. There is a problem in that FMM patterning accuracy will decrease as the size of the organic EL element decreases.
Therefore, it could be helpful to provide a method of manufacturing an organic EL element without performing masking.